by Andrew Gates
The President took a deep breath and wiped his face. The tired man closed his eyes for a moment and reopened them.
“Look, whatever you think I said, put that aside. I want you to know this: I never gave you as much power as you seem to think you had. You did that.”
Sandra Walter smirked again.
Sanja just stood still. She did not feel like responding this time. She let the President continue.
“I want to make this very clear: you are stripped of all those powers. You proved to me that you don’t have what it takes to be part of this Security Council. I know you have a good friendship with Commander Grey. I respect that, but your professional association with him must come to an end. I will speak with him personally after this meeting,” he explained. So he’s taking away my friends now? “I know this is a lot to take in, but if you have any questions or complaints, you can take it up with my chief of staff.” He motioned to Sandra Walter as he said this.
Before Sanja could say anything in response, the President turned and made his way out of the room. Two of the three guards followed him closely. The third stayed behind.
“Congratulations on your promotion. You must be very proud that all those qualified people died when they did,” Sanja said to the new chief of staff, wasting no time to make a jab.
Sandra Walter took a couple steps forward until she was just a few centimeters from Sanja’s face. The move was bold, but did little to intimidate her.
“I don’t know what it is you don’t like about me, but it’s not going to help you here. Snark and attitude won’t do you any favors,” she said in a harsh tone.
“You would know a lot about favors, wouldn’t you? Everyone else comes down to the FCP and gets demoted. We turn into goddamn cleaning ladies! But you? You get a big promotion.”
“There has been a lot of shifting around down here. We all have to take on new roles in order to survive,” she explained. Her answer seemed rehearsed. Sanja assumed this was not the first time she’d said that.
Sanja rubbed her chin and took a few steps back, widening the distance between the two women.
“Baltir Yavenna wasn’t supposed to be here, just like me, but it looks like he got a promotion,” she debated.
“I suppose we did not realize how much we needed someone with his skill set. He lucked out. Like I said, there’s a lot of shifting. People have all been given new roles.”
“And what would happen to me if I don’t take to my new role?” Sanja wondered.
This question seemed to agitate her even more.
“Don’t test us, Sanja. We have limited space and supplies here. There’s no room for a prison cell in the FCP. If you get out of line, we can’t put you away. We literally can’t afford it.”
“So I can’t be punished?”
“You can’t be put away. I didn’t say you can’t be punished.”
Her answer was ominous. Sanja did not know exactly how to interpret those words.
“Look,” Sandra Walter continued, “just don’t get out of line. It’s not good for any of us. We need to survive as a unit now. The President is under a lot of pressure, as you can see, and he needs all of us to be working together. This is not the time for division within our system.”
“Does our system even exist anymore? We only have half the Council of Elected Officials, we have half-breeds openly walking the halls and meeting with the President, we have people telling us how much food to eat, hell, we can’t even sleep in private!”
“Our system is different now. We have to prioritize our issues.”
“So the old rules don’t matter?”
“Some don’t. Some do. The rules are different now.”
Maybe that’s my problem, Sanja thought. I’ve been trying to live by the rules of the Atlantic Station, but I need to live by the rules of the afterlife.
Sanja could not think of anything more to say. She eyed up this woman, whose only real qualification was being in the right place at the right time. After a few seconds, Sanja simply turned and walked away, not saying a word. She grunted as she opened the door and walked out into the narrow hallway.
She did not know what her next play was going to be, but she certainly was not going to give up so easily. For now she would just play along. She would clean the FCP and act like a good submissive drone.
Somehow she would get her power back. Somehow she would make the President, Baltir, Sandra and all the others pay for trying to cast her aside.
She just needed a plan, a way to save herself in the afterlife.
I need to do something bold, she thought, something nobody would ever expect.
IRIS EXPERIENCED A CRAMP AS she stood up. She clenched her hips and felt herself gag. She held it in, but leaned down and took a deep breath, hoping the worst was behind her. She had not been feeling well ever since leaving the station, but lately things had become more severe.
The overturned log above their heads blocked the bright sunlight. The rocky surface beneath her body reminded Iris of the cold walls of the cave from their first days on the surface. This crevasse in the earth had been their home for the past night. It was crawling with bugs and frogs, but at least it was safe.
“Are you okay?” Selena asked, noticing Iris’s pain.
Iris smiled at her and raised her hand. She did not even realize Selena had been there.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine.”
Selena walked up to her.
“Is it the same thing as Kaitlyn and Rina?” she asked.
Iris shook her head. Yesterday both Kaitlyn and Rina woke up to ulcers covering their bodies. They felt weak and vomited non-stop. Whatever it was they had, Iris was experiencing something different.
“No. How are they doing?”
Selena looked down to the ground and sighed. When she looked back up again, she seemed worried.
“I… I don’t know. They still need time to recover. They’re weak. If we want to move far, we’ll have to carry them. I think it’s starting to get to Dan that we haven’t moved more inland.”
Iris did not know if this jab at Dan was meant to prompt her into saying something to her boyfriend. Selena and Dan seemed to argue a lot over the last few days. Iris was not about to get involved in their feud.
“We have water. We can stay as long as we need,” Iris retorted.
Selena shrugged.
“Try telling that to Dan,” she replied before walking off.
This division was not helpful, but Iris had to stay positive. They were all together for now with flowing water at the bottom of the crevasse. There had been no sign of mantises in days. For the moment, they were safe.
Over the last week, the Navy survivors learned how to hunt. As much as Iris hated to admit it, having weapons helped tremendously. They had to cut around the bullet wounds before they cooked anything, but they’d managed to eat a squirrel, two birds and lots of fish over the last few meals. At first the meat did not sit well with their stomachs. But as time went on, their bodies became accustomed to the rich meat. Iris was just glad they could start to phase out the rations from the pods.
Maybe this new food is to blame for why I feel so strange, she thought. Iris made excuses, but she had her own hypothesis, one she found hard to admit. She remembered making love to Dan in the forest. Or I might be pregnant, she knew. The thought had been in the back of her mind.
The idea of motherhood still scared her, but after her heart-to-heart with Ophelia, she found herself slightly more optimistic about the prospect. She and Ophelia had grown close in the last few days. They talked each day for at least an hour at a time. When she first learned how her dad died, it was hard for the girl to cope with the loss of Trace. Iris did her best to help her through it. The more Ophelia opened up to her, the more Iris found that she could open up in return. She never expected to have this type of connection with a kid. Part of her wished she’d discovered this earlier.
It’s what Trace would have wanted. That thought made her smile.
Iris took a few steps up the steep face of the crevasse. She scratched her hands against some thorn bushes as she pulled herself up. This would have worried her weeks ago, but now rubbing against thorns was as normal as walking through the halls of the transition zones. Her hands were covered in small cuts and scabs. Her jumpsuit was dirty and smelled like sweat and urine. There was dirt in her hair and bites on her skin. The new normal, she thought.
The air was getting a bit warmer each day, another indicator that this must have been the spring season. Iris found herself shivering less and less. Today she was almost hot.
As she stepped onto level ground, she heard mumbling coming from her right. Iris turned.
“Iris, did you hear that?” Dan asked, approaching her. It was difficult to make out his expression. His beard was so thick now. She could hardly see the shape of his chin.
Dan had a rifle slung around his shoulder. Iris forgot that she also carried a gun, a pistol in the pocket of her jumpsuit. She had grown used to its weight over the past few days and didn’t remember it was there until seeing Dan’s large weapon. Though part of her didn’t like the idea of carrying a gun around, the others, namely Dan and Ryan, insisted that it was a good idea.
“No, I didn’t hear you.”
He looked over his shoulder, then down into the crevasse, then back to Iris.
“I saw you speaking with Selena. What were you talking about?” he asked.
Iris could not help but sigh. This was getting ridiculous.
“She saw that I wasn’t feeling well. She was worried that I have what Kaitlyn and Rina have. But I don’t. What are you so worried about?”
Dan shrugged, though Iris knew the answer.
“I was just wondering. You know… she’s been disagreeing with me a lot.”
“I’ve noticed. But I tend to tune it out.”
“I wish I could. I envy your ears sometimes,” he said, though Iris doubted that was true.
“How is the hunting coming?” she asked.
“Good. Garren shot a bird. How is the nut-collecting going?”
“There doesn’t seem to be as many in this part of the forest. I found a few berries, but not much else,” Iris answered. “I put them by the others.”
“Nothing in the crevasse?”
Iris shook her head.
“Not a whole lot there, except for water, of course.”
Dan sighed.
“We’re making good progress finding food. I was worried we’d never figure it out,” he added.
Iris agreed. She was glad the group was slowly starting to live off the land instead of old boxes from the pod.
“And we’ve been safe so far,” she added. With the exception of the triangular ship looming above their heads, there had been no signs of mantises since finding the floating farm.
“True. I’m starting to think your theory is right. They don’t seem to live here in the forest.”
“Still thinking about going inland then?” she asked, though she already knew what his answer would be.
Unsurprisingly, Dan nodded.
“Absolutely,” he replied without hesitation. “The creatures might not live around here, but if they farm on the ocean, then we’re bound to run into them at some point. I don’t like the idea of staying by the coast. We need to move inland, despite what Selena says.”
“What if she doesn’t agree?”
“Well, at some point, we’re just going to have to deal with it.”
“You mean split up?”
“Perhaps,” Dan added. Iris was surprised he would say such a thing. Was his obsession really getting that serious?
“I don’t like that idea. We can’t split up,” Iris replied.
Dan paused for a moment and shrugged.
“Then let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Iris did not know how to respond. She was still processing the fact that he might be open to splitting up the group. She took a deep sigh and looked around the lush forest. The tall trees with their thick trunks towered above them and opened into a canopy of beautiful green. Birds chirped in the wind. But behind every tree was a shadow and between every chirp, the sound of creaking sticks. The forest may have been beautiful, but it was also dangerous. There was strength in numbers. Splitting up the group would do more harm than good.
Dan said something that Iris could not hear. She was only half-paying attention anyway.
“What?” she asked.
“I said, I’m sorry if I’m coming off as too serious,” Dan repeated, bringing Iris’s focus back to the conversation. “I know I’ve been different ever since we left the station.”
“You have,” she agreed. “But we’ve talked about it.”
“I know we’ve talked about it, but I feel like it’s not enough. I know I don’t show it like I used to, but I still do love you.”
He grabbed her hands and gazed her in the eyes.
“I… I know,” Iris said.
His face did not lie. She hoped hers showed the same sincerity. Despite disagreeing with some of his decisions, she never fought with him. It never felt like the right thing to do. No matter what he did, she still saw him as a good man.
“I hope we can find more time to be intimate,” he said, “but I know it’s getting harder and harder.”
For the second time in just a few minutes, she recalled how they made love in the forest. They hadn’t had sex since, though Iris longed for him at times. Just thinking about that moment made her feel lustful. She was about to lean forward and kiss him with all the energy she had, but some invisible force stopped her. No, not here, she thought. Not so close to the others.
“I… uhm…” Iris did not know how to respond. She hoped Dan had not noticed her attempt to kiss him. “I understand,” she eventually said, “and I’m glad you told me. I know you love me, but it sounds so good to hear you say it.”
“It’s just getting harder for me to show it,” he said again.
“Dan, I understand. You don’t have to say anything.”
She leaned forward and embraced him. He took her in his arms. They held the embrace for a few seconds and then split apart. He kissed her gently on the forehead.
“I love you and if you want this group to stay together, I’ll make sure we stay together. Even if I disagree with it, I’ll do it if that’s what you want. As long as you live, I’ll make sure our group survives.”
“Thank you, Dan.”
As long as you live, Iris thought. So what happens if I die? His promise was weirdly worded. She wondered if that was intentional.
It was difficult to see through his beard, but Iris caught a glimpse of him smiling. Iris smiled back.
“How are things with Ophelia?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Positive. I’m really getting to know her,” she replied.
“I’m glad. It makes me happy that you two are bonding.”
“It’s what Trace would have wanted,” Iris said.
“I think you’re right.”
“Any news from the FCP?” she asked.
To everyone’s surprise, the Federation was more-or-less still intact, though in bad shape. The survivors retreated to a secret backup station built deep inside the seabed. They called it the Final Contingency Plan, or FCP. Ryan and Dan each communicated with the FCP both yesterday and today, exchanging updates on their situations.
Last Iris heard, not many people had survived the transition. It sounded like the FCP was full of problems. As much as they had problems here on the surface, part of her was glad to be here and not down there.
“Yes, some interesting news,” Dan answered. “Horace Fielder was voted the new Council Head.”
“Who?” Iris asked. She did not know a whole lot about the EOs.
“He was the old Chairman of the Defense Committee,” Dan explained.
“Oh? So who’s Chairman now?”
“I asked the same question. Apparently they voted Andre White as the new Chairman.”
>
Iris did not know who that was either. She simply looked back at Dan, trying to hide her ignorance.
“Oh,” was all she said back.
“Don’t worry, I’ve never heard of him either,” he replied. Apparently it was obvious that she didn’t know the name. “Ryan tells me he’s a big advocate for the Navy.”
“Oh,” she said again. Secretly she did not care about any of this. Federation politics did not matter anymore, especially not to the survivors on the surface.
Suddenly a gunshot echoed in the distance. Iris turned her head toward the sound. She could not see who fired, but birds flew away in shock. It sounded like it was coming all the way from the beach.
“Looks like someone is still out hunting,” Dan said. Iris was glad they were talking about something different now.
Bang! Bang! Bang! More gunshots went off. These shots were closer together, not even a second apart. That’s strange, Iris thought. Why would someone be shooting like that just to hunt?
A second gun joined the choir of weapon fire. Pretty soon the entire forest echoed in the sound of gunshots.
Iris trembled. She hadn’t been this afraid since the mantises attacked the cave. She turned back to Dan. He seemed worried too. He quickly reached for his rifle and held his arm out, as if warning Iris to keep her distance.
Ophelia, Iris thought. Oh no, Ophelia might be in trouble! The last time she had seen her, Ophelia was further down along the crevasse. Iris had to find her.
She quickly bolted off, following along the ridge of the crevasse. Dan shouted something to her, but Iris ignored him and continued along. It did not take long before she found Ophelia. She was with Jallah and Margery on other side of the ravine. They said something to her that she could not hear. They waved at her and she waved back.
Iris climbed down into the ravine, stepped through the stream and then crawled up the other side. When she reached the top, Margery and Ophelia reached out and helped pull her over the edge.
“What’s going on?” Jallah asked.
“I don’t know,” Iris answered. “I just heard the gunshots and came right over.”
She looked across the crevasse and saw Dan running up. He must have followed me, Iris thought. But before she could say or do anything, the trees behind Dan started shaking. Iris instinctively backed up and watched.
